Children of Rome
by Pachowable
Summary: The Roman Camp is crumbling from the loss of their leader. They need someone to feel the gap before they start turning on each other. Neve leaves to find the lost one, but finds that losing Jason was the least of the camps problems. AU to Son of Neptune
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I'd just like to say hey! This story has been developing for many months now and I'm finally glad that I have gotten far enough in my writing that I can start publishing. I really enjoy this story and I hope you guys enjoy it too. I started this story pre-Son of Neptune and even was getting some of the character pre-Lost Hero so that's why some of the characters are a bit wishywashy(Neve's a bit...weird the first couple chapters). This story takes place AU to the Son of Neptune. It actually starts off what happened at the Titans' fortress during TLO. If I was Rick Riordan this is how the books would have gone. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO nor Heroes of Olympus  
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**I**

**Neve**

She wouldn't give anything up. She loved being a demigod. She loved it when she has almost lost a battle, but at the last moment makes it through. She loves it when the gods scoff at her attitude. She loves to disrespect them, (especially after what happened with the war) and then have them grovel at her feet because she does something amazing. She loved it when she almost dies. That, she lives for.  
>And why she doesn't care about the gods you will find out at the end of these books.<br>That's why she doesn't mind being a demigod.  
>She isn't like most people who stray away from death. She goes straight for it. Some people call it reckless and masochistic. She calls it courage (with a twinge of masochistic tendencies).<br>The girl's name is Nevaeh Thalassa Tooley, but if you call her by her full name you're sure to get a good stomp on the foot. She world much rather be refered to as Neve. That is "Nev-ee" not just "Nev". That extra "e" sound it vital. Well, at least Neve thinks so.

Neve was not a person for talking and planning. She thought they should just plan a tiny bit and then do something. You can't just spend the whole day planning when there's a freaking titan army ready to take over the world, but of course Lupa didn't think that was "wise". Stupid wolf has no idea what she's talking about. Things are different from back then when she helped Remus and Romulus.

You can't just plan and plan because if you let your mind dwindle on one thing for too long them the idea begins to seem flawed. That's why Neve doesn't think. Or at least how she justifies her actions and lack of thought process.

Neve let out a groan when Peter Fray, son of Minerva, offered another brilliant plan to take over the titan fortress. Honestly, how many plans could that kid offer? It was the day before they were to leave and go out to try and take out the titan fortress, and they still didn't have a solid plan. It was stupid, absolutely ludicrous. They should have had a plan a long time ago, but of course that didn't happen.

She was sitting with the rest of the Praetorian Guard, all of the Praetors from all twelve legions. Neve was Praetor of the Second Legion. The Second Legion was meant for all the children of the sea and water gods. See all the legions have a specialization like that. The First Legion is weather and air. Third is dominated by war and destructive gods' children. Fourth (Neve's least favorite) is for any demigods' parents that are smart and good at planning (the children of Minerva dominate that place. The stupid head strong lunatics). Fifth is for the builders or people who like to construct weapons (there are more than just Vulcans in there). Sixth is for the demigods that unlucky enough to have douchey parents that don't claim them. Seventh is just for the Mercury kids cause there are just so many of them (kind of disturbing how much Mercury gets around). Eighth is for the archers. Ninth is for the Earth (or Flower Legion as Neve calls it because most of them are just Ceres save a few Saturn and Bacchus). Tenth is all the magicians, sorcerers, and healers. Eleventh is the lovely Venus Legion, or _Love Legion _(you can't forget the children of Cupid)_._ Finally, the twelfth is for the all the personas that just didn't fit anywhere else (but don't underestimate them, especially the twins of Victoria).

Originally, the legions were sorted by strength, but it wasn't the most _efficient _way to organize the demigods. See the people in the Twelfth Legion would just get slaughtered in wars, so it was better to spread the wealth. Also, it helped that the demigods were surrounded by other demigods of similar powers so they could get better at it. For example, a son of Jupiter would normally have no one to help him train, but if there was also a daughter of Tempestas then he could. Same with a son of Neptune and daughter of Salacia. They could work together to further their powers.

It also adds another element of competition. The legions can compete against each other to get a higher spot. They were allowed to challenge once a year on New Years Day. Pretty much every legion challenged. The challenge was that the two Praetors would fight and then a full on mini war between the two. The best wars were in between the first four because they were the most competitive and had the biggest weights resting on their shoulders (not to mention their egos).

"Peter," Neve finally spoke up after his seventh elaborate plan to take over the fortress. "The Titans are going to be expecting some extravagant plan from one of you brain babes. We gotta do something not expected. Something sneaky. Something not thought of you guys."

Peter looked like Neve had just slapped him across the face. "Oh, and who's going to come up with a plan then? You?"

Neve shrugged. It didn't bother if she could come up with the plan, but Peter would rather be strung from his ankles and dipped in honey in a box contains a bazillion spiders than actually go with Neve's plan. "Sure. I don't care. As long as we come up with a plan soon. If you haven't forgotten we have to go to war tomorrow."  
>Peter laughed, "Oh I didn't forget, but I am honest to gods surprised you didn't. I'm surprised you would even offer to make a plan. I thought all you could think about was how pretty you look and how cute clownfish are."<br>Neve rolled her eyes. "Clownfish are pretty damn cute, but besides that I can think up a pretty good plan. But everyone is too busy listening to you blab on and on about all of your ridiculous plans. I say we do something simpler," Neve suggested.  
>Peter laughed <em>again<em>. "Come on, Little Mermaid, we can't just go stab 'em and think that will be good enough. We actually have to strategise! Surprised?"

He was so pushing her over the limit. Neve sat up her chair, "I'm just a bit surprised that I'm the only one who's tired of hearing your voice and your plans! They are just so freaking predictable. They know we are going to over think it, so let's under think it!"

"You're really great at under thinking it. Aren't you, my little seapony?"

"You're so freaking dense. Why don't you grow up a bit, Peter Pan?"  
>"Guys, guys. Calm down. We are all on the same team here, so why don't we try to find a nice equilibrium in between the two of your ideas," Jason suggested. Oh Jason, always vying for peace among the horribly violent demigods. He sent Neve a little desperate look like he was saying <em>Oh look, I'm freaking adorable! So work together.<em>  
>That was Jason Grace for you.<br>He was the son of Jupiter, consul to the gods, defeater of the Ketos Troias, one of the hottest guys (if not the hottest) at camp, and a man of many labels. But he _absolutely_ hated it when anyone (especially Neve) quarrelled. They were supposed to be "united". They have to show they are "united". They could be united, if they tried. It would also help if you kept Neve away from Peter, and vice versa.  
>"My gods, you're freaking siding with her!" Peter shouted.<br>Neve laughed, "Another sign that Minerva mistakenly claimed you: If Jason had sided with _me_ he would have said, 'Okay guys, Neve's plan is absolutely and utterly amazing, so we are going to side with that. Peter, I order you to go drown yourself.'" She did an amazing impression of Jason, they all had to admit except for the fact that it somehow ended up being slightly british.  
>Peter shook his head as if he had actually made a point. "He did side with you because he didn't question your plan."<br>"He didn't question your plan either."  
>"Well, I'm a son of Minerva, nobody questions my plans." Neve wanted to face palm. She raised her hand with just the smuggest look on her face. Peter flushed a bright red, so he looked like a strawberry short cake with his blonde hair and red face. "Besides the sea spawn, I mean!"<br>Neve gave him one of _her _smiles. It was so devious and was absolutely pure evil, but it also was so freaking adorable it could make puppies melt (It actually did once, but that's another story). "Aw, did Petey Wetey gave me _another _nickname? That's so _cute!_" She leaned over the third legion commander, William Morris, to put her hand on Peter's leg. "I _wuv _you, _too _Peter Piper_!_"  
>Peter jumped out of his chair (flinging the chair into the wall and tripping himself with the chair, so he landed on the ground on his rump). "Don't. You. Ever. Touch. Me. Again."<br>Even though Peter was not at all ugly (in fact he looked pretty good, but Neve would NEVER actually admit it) he just was awkward and completely avoided girls like they had some disease. That's how Neve tortured him daily. Since he wasn't that bad on the eye, many girls wouldn't mind having a date with him, so Neve decided to help him in his love life by sending any desperate girls his way. She always told them that he was _lonely_ and wanted some _lovin'_ and that said girl had _caught his eye._ Bam. They were after him like a rabid goat after someone's clothes. Every time he spazed out. It was golden for Neve. Did she feel bad about doing it? Psh, no, morals are for suckers.  
>There was also one time that he sent a daughter of Venus and Cupid after him. <em>Oh gods!<em> That must have been the best. The two girls, Hali (Venus) and Lorelei (Cupid), fought over him constantly insisting that he loved them the most. After about a week of that, they started attacking Peter and blaming him for leading them on. Best plan ever.  
>Neve was too busy laughing on William's lap to actually come up with a witty response. Instead she sat up with a smug look after thanking William for being her pillow. "Don't worry. Once was enough," she gave him another smile. He got up off the ground and fixed his chair and sat back down in the chair. "Okay, I'm not a great pitchmen like Billy Mays, so don't expect this to be perfect." Peter snickered something that sound strangely like she can't do anything good. "Instead of doing a freaking ridiculous plan of Peter's I suggest we do something simple."<p>

"Like what?" Bobby McLaughlin, son of Mercury, piped up. "March straight up to them and attack," he turned and snicker with Nikolai who was next to him.

"That's actually exactly what I was thinking." Before anyone could burst out laughing or call her dastardly names, she continued. "Well, I know that plan won't float any one's boat. Uh, no pun intended. _Anyways_, we could do a diversion to draw most of the attention away from us marching up to the mountain. Bonnie, if you, Nina, McKenna, and FiFi could create maybe an invisibility cloak around the army or something that would be great." she finished.

Everyone glanced around. It wasn't half bad for a child of the sea. They usually don't specialize in the brain department. Neve wasn't an exception to that. Ask her what five times seven is and you're lucky if she doesn't guess a letter (that may be a bit of an exaggeration).  
>"Any objections to-" before Jason could even finish, Peter rose his hand, "-besides Peter-to the plan?"<br>"Who's gonna be causing the diversion?" William asked.  
>Neve bit her lip for a moment and her nose twitched a bit. She hadn't thought that far. She never thinks that far. "Probably the First and Second since we will both be able to appear almost instantly since the flying and swimming," Jason answered for her. She sent him a thank you look.<br>William nodded like it was a good plan. "As long as I get to lead the army and cut off a couple heads, I'm in,"  
>It was pretty much unanimous (Peter was still being a whiny baby) decision. Everyone was pretty satisfied with Neve's idea. That was a first. The Praetorian Guard was not really good at making decisions (well actually just this generation's), so this was a big improvement.<br>"Can we go now?" Nikolai asked. He looked like he had a long night last night and needed a good long nap. Thankfully, since a war was abrupt there was no official training only solo training.  
>Jason looked around at everyone and stood up. "Tonight, I will announce the plans to the rest of the legion. After that everyone is to clear up any question's with your legions. Someone get Lisa to go down to the little kids to help explain what is going on. Matt, maybe you and Em could go too. You like children, don't you?"<br>Neve and Matt let out a snort in unison. Matt hates (okay, too strong of a word, maybe abhorrent) children. He didn't really like dealing with their constant whining. As Matt's unofficial twin, Neve was in agreement with him. No children for her.  
>Jason rolled his eyes. "The meeting is adjourned," everyone got up and saluted him. "Vale." the spoke in unison. Most of them left, but Neve stayed in the room.<br>She locked eyes with Jason and smiled, "Thanks for supporting me."  
>He nodded, "No problem. I'd do it anytime." There was a stillness in between them. It was as if everything had stopped. The world wasn't about to end. For Neve, it was just Jason and his brilliant sky blue eyes. "Um, can you come walk with me?"<br>Who was Neve to refuse the son of Jupiter what he wants?


	2. Chapter 2

******A/N: So funny story guys...I sort of rewrote both the first and second chapter after writing like ten chapters or so, so I kinda assumed some facts during the chapter. So she is NOT a daughter of Neptune. I'm not gonna pull that kind of BS. If she were a daughter of Neptune I would soooo make her fall in love with Percy/Jason/Leo and also be a daughter of Artemis with a horrible past because if I'm gonna pull Mary-Sue stunts you gotta go ALL the way. Oh, BTW, read this chapter over too and it also doesn't mention who she's a daughter of, so just gonna say. SALACIA. Woah. Original. It gets mentioned eventually, but I'd rather you guys just know. BTW this chapter is just fluffy, playful filler which I don't really care for...Oh and sorry if anything is wrong with grammar or the format is weird because I take this from Google Docs to Word, so it's a bit mashed. Love ya guys! No seriously. I love you.  
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**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO or Zoopals  
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**II**

**Neve**

It was a relatively calm day, considering pretty much everyone might die tomorrow. It was like a normal Sunday at camp (Sunday is the one day the campers get off [more like they just slack off, they're all workaholics] because all the wolves leave to go scout out new recruits).

There was Karen, daughter of Mars, facing Avery, daughter of Venus in a sort of CQC (Close Quarters Combat) off. Tia Ryker, daughter of Tempestas, was versing Grant Lazzaro, son of Mars. They were both good fighters and it could have swayed either way, but Tia was too much of a goof off to actually try to win. She was too busy making a joke of the battle then actually trying. It was kinda funny since Lazzaro always got really into his battles and he'd win at pretty much any cost. Whilst Tia just jumped around swinging her golden, sparking sword every which way. She had no grasp at what was really going around. She was a complete air head. Up in the air were the wind gods' children.

Neve thought a cool thing about them is the fact that they has huge wings. All of the children of the four wind gods have huge wings that let them fly. There was the son of Aquilio, Ace Satori. Fletcher Jester the son of Favorinus. Anthony Germaine is a son of Auster. Vulturnus also has a son, Vincent Smith. They all basically stick together like quadruplets.

Neva and Jason walked down through all the battles that were going through. It wasn't too hard to dodge all the swords that were coming their way (most of the time, she almost got nicked by William). They walked all the way to the archery arena. Neve was pretty good with everything, but couldn't shoot a bow for her life. After trying a couple times when she was littler she learned that it was not her calling. The mocking of other campers helped her come to that conclusion.

Normally, she avoided the archery range like it was the spawn of the devils hiding spot-which it sometimes was-but he led her here and she just blindly followed him. She just watched him practice his archery. For some people like Neve there was no use to practice because she is simply in capable of getting good at archery. She shoots an arrow and she is pretty lucky if it doesn't somehow hit herself.

Sometimes she might come and try her aim with her knives and or maybe even a javelin, but normally she avoided the place, but as she said before, Jason brought her here.

He pick up a generic bow and arrow quiver and started shooting. He never missed his shot, he was too good for that. "You know how much is riding on this?" he asked. Another shot narrowly missing the bulls eye.

Sitting on the grass, she looked up at him. The way the last of the day's sunlight hit him made him seem golden, and that's who he was. The Golden Boy. Jason Grace, the pride and joy of all that is New Rome. The Legion's weapon that could not be beat. Something so valuable that it should never be lost.

Neve didn't like to think about that.

He was so important that she couldn't stand the thought of him getting hurt or, may the god's forbid it, die. The Legion would collapse. He could very well be the only causality in this war, but it would cause so much disruption in the Legion that it would be like losing everyone. "A lot," she finally spoke up.

He smirked and kept on shooting. "The fate of Olympus, our lives, the rest of the humanity."

"Yeah, that's a lot," she tried to smile up at him. Jason looked at her quizzical. Somehow all of this crazy stuff was happening, she still managed to give him his favorite smile. Her attitude about this issue was so light and carefree that he could see why some people were really bothered by it.

"Aren't you worried about dying, or the Titans winning?" he asked.

She sighed as if she had been asked this question hundreds of times over. "The Titans will not win. It's as simple as history," she tried to explain to him, but he just gave her a confused look. "Look at the history. Uranus over takes Chaos, Saturn over takes Uranus, Jupiter over takes Saturn, it is always the child that takes the parents. I'm not worried about the Titans. I'm worried about the children of the gods that have switched sides. If there is on thing I have learned from being at this camp is to listen to history."  
>It was weird. She was usually not so bright, but still at times she managed to make sense. She was confusing especially when she had that weird twinkle in her eye. "And?" he asked.<br>She raised an eyebrow. "Everyone dies, Jason. I will die. Get used to it." His bow creaked even more and when he let go of the arrow, it nearly knocked the target over.  
>"I don't just let people die," his voice was strained. It was almost a threat.<br>"Sometimes you won't have a choice, Jason. Get used to it," her green eyes threatened him to question her. There was a dangerous air around them. Both of the demigods were powerful in more ways than one. They both had the social aspect and the just plain power aspect.  
>His eyes seemed to glow like they were about to electrocute her, but he stood his ground. "Nev?" he asked.<br>She paused. "Yeah?"

"If I die tomorrow make sure nothing bad happens to this camp," he let off another arrow that hit the bulls eye. She bit her lip and looked down. The tables were turned. She didn't care if she were to die tomorrow, but if anyone else were to…

She couldn't argue the point, though, especially to Jason. He would flip the tables on her and put her in his shoes. That's why Neve kept her mouth shut. "Remember that time when the flaming owls tried to eat us?" she asked.

He smiled at her. "Duh. When Matt started going crazy saying that it was a sign from Minerva that we were on the wrong tracks."

"And then he started claiming that she was evil too." They both laughed. "Remember the first time I came to camp?"

"You were so stubborn," he grunted. "I've never seen someone with a broken leg run so fast."

"It's part of the trade. Remember the time when you got lost at sea last year?" she asked.

"And there were all those weird horses on the island. I've never seen so many horse variations in my life!"

"It was the best when one chomped down some of Bonnie's hair,"

"Remember when we met your mom?"

"Neptune was so pissed, but he insisted on having me call him _Father_."

"That was awkward."

"That would be like you calling Juno _mother_!"

He snorted. "I already do call her _mother_," they laughed. He sat down across from her. "I wish I was a kid again," he whispered.

"When I was kid, I didn't lie to anyone, but myself," she mumbled looking at Jason. "I had a mom, a dad, a brother, and a family. Now I have you guys and it almost makes things right,"

"I thought you didn't care for your mom," Jason questioned.

"You don't have to like someone to care about them," she mumbled. Sometimes if you say a lie so many times it will start to feel like a truth. "I…" her voice faltered. "Remember Liam?" she asked.

Jason beamed. "Liam was awesome. I miss him," he looked at Neve. "You miss Finn." It wasn't a question. It was more of a statement.

She nodded. She couldn't put in words what she would do to get her brother back. "Him and Theo," she told him. Jason nodded as if it was the first time hearing this, but he had heard this a thousand times from her. She may be reckless, but she also doesn't let things go, or rather people.

"Remember when you took that quest to work behind enemy lines, but no one knew about it?" he asked.

She tried to smile, but it didn't really work. "Seeing your faces with all the shock and hurt was horrible. I could tell that some people were torn what to do and some were glad to get an excuse to drive a spear through me. William did," she told them even though he was there.

"I wanted to die that moment when I saw you in the ranks of Saturn. I thought you were dead, but no. You had joined the enemy. I didn't know who to hurt, you or the person who convinced you to do such a thing," he admitted. He drew little stick figures in the dirt.

She smiled at the head praetor doing such juvenile things. "I remember hearing things about how some of the demigods in the army did not care for Saturn, but instead were taking a free ride to take down some of the gods. They wanted to rule the world by themselves. It seemed like such an…appetizing idea."

He looked at her with worry. Such a sentence could be considered treason here and she could be convicted and executed if he were to tell someone else that. "Really?"

"And then I realized how chaotic it would be having the world run by teenagers, and that was enough proof for me that it should never happen."

"Except if I were a god," he said.

She laughed. "Except if you were a god. You would be god of the pikachus or power cords or something ridiculous like that," she snorted.  
>He rolled his eyes, "Sure. Be nice. Make fun of me now, but mark my words—"<p>

"—when you become god of the power cords you will tangle them all up for me? Oh, that's a real threat," she joked. "That's it." She stood up and dusted herself up. "I wage war on you, Jason Grace."

He laughed and got up. "You and what army?" he asked.

She raised an eyebrow. "Have you seen my army of seals? Gods, they're absolutely terrifying. I wouldn't wish them on my worst enemy, but I will make an exception for you." She declared.

He laughed. "Good. Me and my army of eagles will take you," he said. He gave her the bow and arrow. "Fire the first shot of the war," he offered.

She glared at him, but tried. "Fine." It didn't go well. She shot it and the end of the arrow ended up scraping her upper arm, so she had a nice ripe cut on her arm. "I get the first attack and I still end up getting hurt. This isn't a good sign, is it?" it was a joke, but Jason could hear the hint in her voice. This might be nothing or it might be a bad omen.

"You should really work on you aim." He said. Even though she worked so hard on launching the arrow, it still ended up broken on the ground ten feet in front of them. "And accuracy, and holding the bow, and shooting the arrow, and your strength," he listed.

She took the bow and smacked him. "Who needs arrows when you have a perfectly good stick right here?" she smirked giving him her signature smile.

"I don't think a stick is going to help us win the war," he mumbled.

"Like the great Gandhi said, 'Have faith in nature because that's all there is,'" she said.

"I'm pretty sure he didn't say that,"

"Yeah, because I said that."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks guys! I love seeing all the views and stuff. It makes me want to explode in warm happiness! I'm sorry for just throwing characters at you in this chapter. Also, I would like to introduce you guys to the lovely intro paragraphs that will be at the beginning of the pair chapters. They will be there whenever a new characters is the main character. So Percy's adventure starts in Chapter 10 just to let you know, and I personally love his chapters because they have a really nice airiness and humor to them cause I feel like its ANGST all the time with everyone else. ANYWAY. Thank you so much for reading. I'm not gonna ask much of you guys, but if you review that would be nice. Love ya guys.  
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**III**

**Matt**

"_Matt," a voice rang in the forest. We were going on one of our adventures again. Well it's more like Neve dragged me out here, but whatever. I forgot what we were looking for, but it had to be awesome since we had both forgot about our curfews. We didn't care about the punishment. This would cancel out any punishment they could give us. _

_I turned around to find Neve and ended up slipping off the log I was on. I fell into a puddle of mud, getting my pants soaked. "What?" I asked. I didn't know how I was going to explain this to Mrs. McCally, the lady at the orphanage. _

"_I say one day we go on a sailing twip," she proposed. Before I could protest that absolutely ludicrous idea, she continued. "I want to find Atlantis. Also, I wanna be like those Spanish people and find El Dorado," she was smirking. Matt could only guess what was going through her mind right now._

"_Why?"_

_She snorted at me, "You got no adventurin' blood in you. Daddy was telling me about his adventures sailing, and it seems like fun. And you being my bestest friend and all I think you should go with me. Fwiends stick together," she grabbed my hand and pulled me off the ground._

_I knew her well enough. "So you're going to drag me on a crazy rat chase?"_

_She gave me her signature smile, "Duh."_

Matt sat on the cliff that overlooked the sea. He didn't have a lot of people to hang out with considering his two best friends were probably busy making out somewhere. They were to busy with their own affairs, so Matt sat on the cliff alone. He was used to being alone.  
>Matt grew up in an orphanage that held many kids. The orphanage surprisingly had quite a few kids in it because no one really wanted to adopt in the country anymore; they all wanted to adopt kids from China and Kenya and other interesting countries. Because of this Matt stayed parent-less. He never knew his mother, or his father, and the orphanage said he was just dropped off in a blanket on their doorstep. He wasn't like the kids in the movies whom were usually dropped off with something that their parents meant for them to have. He had nothing like that. His parents genuinely got rid of him. He wasn't wanted.<br>Now he knows that he _wasn't_ just a mistake. Nor a problem that somebody didn't want.  
>But he thought he was probably the result of a one-night stand, or something on the lines of that. Matt was just too much for someone to handle. But he only wishes he knew why.<br>Why did he or she have to give him up? Were they unprepared for a child? Could they not deal with a demigod child? Were they too young? Why?  
>Of course Matt still doesn't know why, <em>exactly.<em> He has a good guess.  
>Matt grew up in the orphanage alone. None of the kids became friends with each other in fear of losing each other. Also because the competition between all of the children. It was a miracle if a kid was adopted annually, sometimes semi-annually. It was weird how competitive the little kids were against each other.<br>When Matt reached the age of seven only 12 kids had been adopted from the orphanage. Of course none of them was he. Matt was definitely not one of those ugly kids, nor was he one of the troubled kids. There was just an aura that gravitated around him that made the potential parents go away from him. Somehow a child scared off the all the adult parents. That's when Matt basically gave up the idea of getting adopted. That's when he started to explore.  
>Living in a small town called Pontoria in the middle of Minnesota was not a lot of fun unless you could explore the forests and rivers. On one of his expeditions is when he met Neve. He had been at Ponto Lake throwing sticks into the lake thinking he could get a water dog to rise up from the depths and become his dog. No one had bothered to explain to him that a water dog does not come literally from the water is just a dog that likes to swim in the water.<br>"Whatchya doin'?" he heard a voice behind him ask.  
>He turned around a little girl looking up to him. She had light brown, almost dirty blonde, wavy hair that barely reached her shoulders. She had freckles speckled across her cheeks and nose, but it wasn't like the normal freckles that Matt had seen on other people. It was as if someone had taken a paintbrush and painted on each and every single one. But it wasn't the only thing that caught his eyes. It was her eyes. The little girls eyes were the color of light sea foam green. It was as if her eyes were originally green, but then someone poured bleach in them to take away some of the color.<br>"I'm tryin' to find myself a doggy," Matt mumbled. He wasn't really used to people trying to talk to him.  
>"Silly, doggies don't come from the water!" she giggled and Matt flushed. Did she really think he was stupid? "My momma gave me a doggy, his name is Charlie. But my momma says we can't keep him anymore because she's sick and Charlie makes her more sicker." She made a sour face like she had just tried to eat a lemon.<br>"What's your name?" Matt asked trying to distract her from her thoughts.  
>It seemed to work, "My name is Neve Thal-Thalassa-Thalia," she paused. She didn't know her middle name. It was like a guessing game for her. What middle name was hers? "Tooley," she grinned to reveal she had lost a couple teeth. She held out her hand for him to shake. Matt wondered what happened to it. "Daddy says I always need to be nice to my elders." Matt tentatively shook her hand. Neve seemed to be waiting for him to say something. "Um, your name, pwease?"<br>"My name is Matthias...uhmm..." it took him a while to think. He didn't really ever use his last name a lot. It wasn't even his real last name; it had been assigned to him when he got there.  
>Neve's eyebrows scrunched together, "You don't know your own last name, that's weird,"<br>Matt sighed, "I-I, it's Steele!" he shouted in triumph. He was so proud that he actually remembers it. Neve giggled. "Well Mat-Mayi-Mayu-Matt, that's your new name. Matt Steele, I think this a start to a great friendship," she put her arm around his shoulders even though it was hard for her to reach. She had to go onto her tiptoes. Neve gave Matt another one of her signature smiles and Matt knew in that instance that she was right. They were going to be the best of friends, and maybe his only friend for the time being.

"Hey Matt, ya okay?" someone asked from behind him. Matt turned to see the illecebrous Avery standing behind him. Her short bronze-y brown hair fell just above her shoulders. She was short standing at just above five foot one. Matt was easily a head and half taller than her.

"Yeah," Matt just shrugged. He wasn't one of the really talkative people. He was the kind of person who stood in the back ground and just listened into the conversations of others. "Even though they have been preparing us since the day we got here for war, it's weird to think we are actually going to war tomorrow." Matt admitted. It was true too. After the first day or two here you get thrown into training for a war that might never come. But it did.  
>Avery nodded sitting next to him. "I honestly thought when we first got here that I would never see war, but the Titans decided against that," she added bitterly.<br>"I hope we win," Matt mutters.  
>"Don't we all?" Avery asks with subtle amusement in her voice. She still stood above Matt with her arms crossed. "Even if we do all the Praetors and Quaestors still have to go get rid of the Hyperion gates, and you know that will be a pain. I heard that they have actually somehow manufactured more portals, so we have to destroy all of them before we can leave. If we can," there were people spreading the idea that if they destroyed all of the gates then there would be no way for them to get out.<br>"Neve has voiced an idea that everyone would get out-"  
>"-Except for her, and there is no way we are letting her sacrifice herself. And I'm even more certain Jason would never let her do that in a million years," Avery countered. Her voice was sharp. She hated that idea. It was just some stupid, brave, typical hero move. Sacrifice her for the common good. Only Jupiter himself can stop all her friends and let her go through with it.<br>Matt nods, but there is still something nagging in the back of his mind. "She will be able to find a way to get around it." He mutters darkly. As much as they hate to admit it, he's right. She will find a way. "Where's Abby?" Avery broke the silence.  
>Abby Ryker was one of the twins of Saturn. She had golden hair that resembled grains of wheat. She had freckles that were spotted across her face and had the deepest, forest green eyes with a rim of gold around her pupil. She was a relatively shy person, but was perfect for Matt. They had been dating for was seemed like forever, but was only two months. Matt already knew that he loved her, but he was afraid to tell her about it. She was too reserved and he didn't know how she would react to it. He didn't want to get rejected.<br>Matt sighed, "Probably with the rest of the Earth Legion. You know how they are." The whole Earth Legion was really connected to each other. They didn't like getting separated or one of their members going on a quest. The risk of losing someone was too great for the glory of his or her legion. "I don't wanna intrude,"  
>"Who cares if you don't want to, go spend time with you're girl!" Avery smirked. Being a daughter of Venus she knew how people felt about each other and how their love lives where going. She was intertwined with all the gossip around camp.<br>"I guess, do you know where Neve is?" he asked even though he had a good idea of where she was, he just wanted to confirm. He could never be to safe with that girl.  
>A small smirk appeared on Avery's face, "You know her and Jason are probably making out somewhere. That girl has more hormones than a dog in heat."<br>"Well duh, I just wanted to you know, make sure. Cause I obviously have no life," Matt mumbled getting up. He dusted the dirt off of his pants. Avery shot him a look. "Okay, okay, I'll go see Abby, _Mom_," She rolled her eyes, but grinned triumphantly. With that Matt left Avery looking over the cliff and went to go see Abby. Maybe for the last time.

All the Children of Rome were sitting in the Coliseum, which was a replica of the one in Rome (before the earthquake partially destroyed it). It was where most of the war councils took place if all the campers had to hear. It was early in the morning and it was time for Lupa to give all the legionaries one last encouragement speech.  
><em>Ave, my legionary pups. <em>Everyone raised one hand to the left of them with an open palm to the ground, their fingers touching. They slowly closed their fist and brought their hand back placing it over his or her heart. Every one's head bowed. It was a Roman salute that everyone learned to do once they first got to camp. _You may sit, children._ Lupa ordered.  
>She was in the middle of the arena with her pack standing around her. Lupa was a reddish-chocolaty colored wolf the size of a Volkswagen bug. Her pack was circling the arena. Normally, they would be snapping at half bloods to be quiet, but everyone was quiet already. <em>In a few hours we will depart to take down the titan base of Mount Orthys. As you know the gods are trying to take control of the situation on Olympus with Kronos. Which is why we must succeed in taking the base. If the gods can defeat Kronos, but then are bombarded by more titans I doubt they will be able to control that situation. We have to succeed. We <em>will_ succeed. Vale._  
>Many demigods stood up and began cheering. They wanted to feel the glory that was about to bathe them if they were to succeed. However, Neve, Matt, and just about every Praetor and Quaestor just sat there looking Lupa in the eye. No matter how much she tried to pump them up, Neve and Matt knew. There was no hope. They were going to lose many.<br>Matt wondered why the demigods were cheering for their imminent death.  
>He looked over at Neve and knew that she was thinking the same thing. The way she glanced at every one of their faces that held ambitions of glory, but still held a sour look. Matt figured at least half of the legionaries would die. Most of the survivors will be injured. Some will be stuck with anxiety disorders like PTSD. Some will be too maimed that they will have to be put to death. Some will change completely because of the war. Their personalities altered to the point where they are almost unrecognizable.<br>A pang hit Matt in the chest.  
>He looked over at Neve who was on his left side, Jason who was beside her, and Abby who was sitting on his right side. He gulped down the realization that one of them will probably be diagnosed with PTSD, one will be disable from a wound, and one will die. But <em>who?<em> Would Neve's lovable personality be changed to a tortured one, to never smile again? Would Jason not survive? Would Abby be blinded? Who would get what?  
>All he knew was at least one of them was going to die. <em>At least one.<em>  
>When he looked at Neve he knew that she was probably the one who was going to be troubled with mental illnesses. She already suffered being having schizoaffective disorder. She suffers from some pretty serious symptoms, but who could blame her? She saw her own demigod half-brother get mutilated in front of her. After the war she could be stuck with some serious problems. Then Lupa would have no choice, but to put Neve to death. A person with that bad of an illness would not be a valuable asset to the legion.<br>His hand went and grasped both Neve's and Abby's. They both looked at him with sad eyes. Neve looked away almost immediately to resume to regal look that she was portraying. She had to remain strong because so many looked up to her and Jason. They were, after all, the leaders of the camp.  
>But the way she sat there looking so regal threw Matt off. She looked different than most of the demigods here. She looked more like <em>him.<em> And he wasn't the norm for demigod standards. The way her chin jutted out, her back completely straight. It was the way she held herself that made her different, but there was also something else. As much as they were alike he knew she gave off a different aura then him. Hers was warm, welcoming, and inviting so many people in. His warded people away.  
>Maybe because she is like a god and he is like a titan.<p> 


End file.
